1 injured, others seen fleeing after hash oil explosion

COMMERCE CITY - A man was injured in a hash oil explosion at a Commerce City housing complex Friday evening.

It happened near Hanson Elementary School in the 7300 block of Oneida Drive just before 5:30 p.m.

Fire officials say the explosion was caused by the manufacturing of hash oil within one of the rooms. The explosion damaged the room it was in, but did not appear to affect the other units in the complex.

The remaining units in the housing complex were evacuated for the night. Officials will inspect the units to verify that the integrity of the building was not compromised.

Witnesses told investigators that immediately following the explosion people were seen leaving the area. Criminal charges for this incident will be determined at a later time.

Hash oil is extracted from marijuana using a chemical process that is both highly volatile and extremely dangerous, due to the explosive nature of the chemicals being used.